The Sustainabilist - Issue 09

The Sustainabilist ISSUE 09

Electrifying

TRANSPORTING VISION 2021

NEED FOR SPEED

Emirates Transport’s Innovations

ISBN 978 - 1978357310

DP World’s Hyperloop

GREEN AIRPORTS TAKE - OFF

FUEL EFFICIENT FALCONS Nature Leading Engineers

Managing Abu Dhabi Airports

WWW.THESUSTAINABILIST.AE WWW.THESUSTAINABILIST.AE

Issue 09 | July 2018

Letter from the Editor in Chief

Many of us remember that feeling of getting behind the wheel of our first car and the jubilant independence that came with it. I suspect these sentiments endure through each new generation of driver, with mobility being key to growing a society.

Chairman, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

The Sustainabilist Follow Us On

Editorial: fomo@thesustainabilist.ae Commercial: getinvolved@thesustainabilist.ae

With major expansions across land, sea and air currently underway, the UAE’s transport sector continues to drive much of the country’s economic and international success. The government is fully committed to the continuous improvement of this infrastructure, with new rules for public-private partnerships aiming to enhance delivery in the sector.

Electric Vehicles, for example, are and

The Sustainabilist is published by Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence PSC. Articles reprinted in this issue are copyrighted 2018 by Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence PSC. All rights reserved. Rehtion in any manner, in whole or in part, without prior written permission of Dubai Carbon is expressively prohibited.

Printed by: Al Ghurair Printing and Publishing LLC P.O. Box - 5613, Dubai, UAE. Nothing in this magazine shall be taken as technical or advice and DCCE waives any liability with respect to any representations made. The production of this magazine will be offset with local carbon credits.

This month we observe the status of the UAE’s transportation sector. We take a look at the public and private companies working towards sustainability in the industry, speak to leaders in automobile manufacture, aeronautics as well as aerospace.

We also hear from experts about the impact of technological advancement on logistics and infrastructure, carbon emissions reduction, as well as what the future of the commute could look like.

The future outlook confirms the paradigm shift in mobility and transportation, and UAE finds itself uniquely placed to be the hub to lead the change . And with continued investment into advances in sustainable development, I am confident that it will continue to be the region’s preeminent transportation hub.

As the demand grows for “EVs, so will the demand

for charging stations and innovation in technology that streamlines these processes.

“

Eng. Waleed Bin Salman

As the need for mobility increases with each new generation however, so will the need for innovation in the transport sector. This will require a change not only in the way we think about different modes of transportation, but in the way we think about infrastructure, communication and energy.

will continue to disrupt the industry on an unprecedented level. As the demand grows for EVs, so will the demand for charging stations and innovation in technology that streamlines these processes.

To read the latest digital copy go to: www.theSustainabilist.ae 1

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

Contents The Sustainabilist ISSUE 09

Electrifying

NEED FOR SPEED DP World’s Hyperloop

GREEN AIRPORTS TAKE - OFF Managing Abu Dhabi Airports

TRANSPORTING VISION 2021 Emirates Transport’s Innovations

I

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S LETTER

36

I

FEATURE The Tesla Effect

04

I

YOUTH Enterprising Youth Initiative

38

I

SCHOOL Swiss International School Dubai

05

I

NEWS ROOM Latest news

39

I

TOP TIPS Easy EV

06

I

EXPO 2020 DUBAI Mobile Opportunities

42

I

FEATURE UAE’s NASA Space & Rocketry Summer Camp

09

I

COVER STORY Interview with Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman

44

I

FEATURE Impact of Global Aviation

14

I

THE GREEN ECONOMIST A City Transformed

46

I

DISRUPTOR LoadMe.com

15

I

FEATURE A Bolt from the Blue

48

I

CASE STUDY A Case For Used Cars

18

I

CASE STUDY Sharing is Caring

50

I

INNOVATION Fuel-efficient Falcons

20

I

FEATURE The Future of Commute

52

I

RESEARCH Dubai EV Charging Stations Map

22

I

I AM THE SUSTAINABILIST Faisal Rashid

55

I

FEATURE We’re EV ready

24

I

FEATURE Containing Green

57

I

PERSON Janardan Dalmia

26

I

CASE STUDY Abu Dhabi Airports

58

I

PROJECT DP World’s Cargospeed

28

I

INTERVIEW Rimoun Hanouch

59

I

PRODUCT Electric Motorbikes

31

I

CENTRE FOLD Emirates Transport Driving Technology

60

I

INDEX

34

I

CASE STUDY DEWA Charging Stations

CLEAN FUEL TIMES ENOC’s Alternative Power

ON THE COVER

Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman General Manager Emirates Transport

CENTRE FOLD

Emirates Transport Stepping into a mindset of sustainability for the future of transport is going to require embracing digital transformation to elevate the sector.

2

01

A MEMBERS OF EMIRATES TRANSPORT BUSINESS CENTERS:

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

YOUTH

NEWS ROOM DP World accelerates into the future with Hyperloop

The initiative pioneered by American University Sharjah aims to stimulate sustainable innovation in youth across the UAE.

U

experts and entrepreneurs through a series of workshops and masterclasses.

This year’s program kicked off in May, with a launch event hosted at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center, (Sheraa) that featured a panel discussion of experts from Crescent Enterprises, IBM, HP, GE and the Catalyst, a joint initiative between BP and Masdar.

Organized by the AUS Office of Advancement and Alumni Affairs (OAAA), the initiative is open to students and graduates, under the age of 30, from universities across the UAE.

The event also included an innovation showcase that presented some of the latest technologies developed by companies such as Bee’ah, Parsons, GE, HP and Etihad, among others. By fall 2018, the initiative aims to produce at least 10 innovative projects to be incubated at Sheraa.

Held in strategic partnership with Crescent Enterprises and supported and sponsored by other major organizations including EGA, GE and Petrofac, Enterprising Youth is designed to give young people the skills and knowledge to create sustainably-sound innovations.

Those taking part learn from industry

The success of previous Enterprising Youth projects is testament to the role the initiative plays in generating world-class, sustainably-driven innovation. Charles A. Diab, Executive Director of Advancement at AUS says; “AUS strives to support Sharjah’s vision of being a leading regional hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.

4

We want youth to learn about the latest trends in technology and sustainability so their innovative ideas, projects, and solutions can ultimately be launched into successful startups. Enterprising Youth has spawned Tawseel, a logistical solution for the food and beverage industry in Sharjah and Ajman.

Within just one year, it was able to scale up, and will soon cater to the rest of the UAE, as well as to customers in Saudi Arabia.

Tawseel was co-founded by AUS alumnus Mohammed Al Musharrakh, along with Sarmad Al-Zadjaly, a graduate of Paris Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. The involvement and support we continue to receive from our strategic partner Crescent Enterprises, as well as our other partners and sponsors, has been instrumental in producing numerous ideas and solutions that are currently incubated within Sheraa. We anticipate that more of those ideas will be launched into startups very soon.”

DP World has partnered with Virgin Hyperloop One, to intorduce “DP World Cargospeed”, an ultra-high speed cargo delivery system. The hyperloop system will be designed to deliver freight from point to point, at top speed of 1,000 km/h. The pods will be customised to accommodate pallets to transport cargo instead of passengers. DP World Cargospeed systems will deliver freight at the speed of flight which will be equivalent to the cost of trucking.

Source: Hyperloop One

DHL Express paves the way for a zero emissions future by 2050 DHL Express has partnered with Al Naboodah Automobiles to introduce their all-electric Volkswagen e-Golf for deliveries and collections. This announcement follows DHL’s latest initiative, the Cubicycle, a cargo bike with a specialised container for clean pick-up and delivery. DHL is opting to introduce sustainable solutions into their logistics, to achieve their target of zero emissions by 2050.

Region’s first “Cybersecurity Standard” for autonomous vehicles set to be launched

Source: Utilities Middle East

Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC), as part of the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy, is on the verge of launching a set of standards for autonomous vehicles (AV).

Developed in partnership with other UAE government entities, the adoption of these practices and standards will secure emerging autonomous technologies. The Cyber Security Standard will outline the requirements and guidelines for the security of AVs and will be used by all relevant Dubai government departments.

Electric aircrafts are next on the horizon

Source: Arabian Business

Source: Arabian Industry

riter is lo okin g fo r a sFeofatexurpee rieWnc e) in im um 5 year

(m Jetex Flight Support, a Dubai-based general aviation trip support ES AN D RES PON SI BI LITI ES DUTIsigned company, has tea m mem bers and meet dea d lines *Lia ising witha partnership es piec edit agreement *Wr withiteUS-based start-up and ck arti cles for accu racy che and ad ofre *Pro Wright Electric. The partners will ments for pieces *Sug gest possible sou rces and imp rove collaborate to explore the possibility REE DEGelectric SKI LLSof&an of development er ven work exp erience as a featurelswrit *Pro skil aircraft, designed specifically for the ding frea proo and ing *Strong writ ls Offi ce, InDesign, or other pub lishi ng too with Middle East*Exp region.

The twoMSparties erience ncy in Engoflish *Proficie will also develop a network *Attenti on to deta il related field charging stations designed ree in joutorna lism, com mun ications or *BSc deg support aircrafts utilising electric our H R ed in the above, please get in tou ch with propulsion. If you are interestdeta ils belo w: Man ager on the

an offeryo ucantrefuse@d cce.a e

shutterstock.com

shutterstock.com

Enterprising Youth Initiative

niversity students and graduates from across the UAE are being given the opportunity to create sustainably-sound innovations and solutions through an initiative of American University of Sharjah (AUS) called Enterprising Youth. The capacitybuilding initiative, now in its third year, has been designed to foster new technologies that also meet the highest standards of sustainability.

PHOTO: DIEDERIK VAN DER LAAN

5

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

shutterstock.com

A Bridge to Opportunity

Expo 2020 Dubai will take place on one of the most connected locations on the planet, but physical modes of transport form only part of the Mobility story.

Marjan Faraidooni Senior Vice President – Legacy Development & Impact, Expo 2020 Dubai

O

ptimum mobility for all is central to humanity’s future growth and prosperity. It is a key component of a sustainable future, as we strive to find greener ways of moving people, goods and ideas around the planet in a globalised world.

Mobility is also a bridge to opportunity, extending far beyond physical modes 6

of transportation by making virtual connections. It drives trade and tourism, provides easier access to markets, knowledge and innovation, and forges links between people and communities – both physical and virtual.

This is why Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity are Expo 2020 Dubai’s key subthemes. We want to use the unique convening power of a World Expo to connect minds and help drive forward the advancement of mobility in all its forms, demonstrating how people can use technological breakthroughs

and digital mobility to meet our need for global connections.

To achieve this goal, Expo 2020 will focus on three main aspects of mobility: we will showcase optimum systems and modes of transport to move people physically from one place to another; identify the most efficient ways and routes to transport goods and resources; and work with our partners to drive the advancement of virtual connectivity for all people through technology.

We have already begun to demonstrate this

with a milestone announcement earlier this month: Expo 2020 Dubai is the first major commercial customer to access 5G services in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, thanks to our partnership with Etisalat. The Expo 5G network will provide the most advanced digital and telecom services to millions of visitors, enabling them to enjoy exceptionally high data download speeds with ultralow latency, both of which far exceed the current 4G. This advancement in network innovation will support the movement of ideas, in particular, but will also have applications that apply to the physical movement of people and goods, such as networking vehicles, the Internet of Things and industrial automation. Its ultra-low power requirements also support sustainability efforts.

Bringing millions of people to Expo’s 4.38 sqkm site in Dubai South will be a significant challenge, albeit an exciting one. We expect to receive 25 million visits between October 2020 and April 2021 – equivalent to welcoming the population of Australia through our gates in the space of only six months.

Fortunately, Expo 2020 will take place on one of the most connected locations in the world. Situated near Al Maktoum International Airport, the Expo site will be connected to Dubai Metro via a dedicated station, and major highways, making it easily accessible from all of the UAE’s major air and sea ports.

Post 2021, the site will transform into a highly accessible, well connected, integrated urban development called District 2020, which will continue Expo 2020’s mission to Connect, Create and Innovate for generations to come.

We are working closely with Dubai’s

Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and other government bodies to ensure a seamless end-to-end journey for millions of visitors and more than 200 participants.

Commercial partnerships are also playing a vital role in delivering a well-connected World Expo, with top-tier companies such as DP World, Emirates Airline, Etisalat,

“

Expo 2020 wants to harness innovative examples of mobility to create a future in which technology helps us to overcome physical barriers and preserve our environment.

change-makers around the world through our global social impact programme Expo Live, which has been providing grants, support and exposure for social innovators since its launch in January 2017.

To date, Expo Live’s Innovation Impact Grant Programme has backed 15 mobilityfocused projects including Be My Eyes, a Danish mobile app that makes the world more accessible for blind and visually impaired people; Smart Labour, a digital learning and smart services platform developed in the UAE that provides voiceenabled content to educate blue-collar workers in their language; and Transport for Cairo, a system that uses mobile technology to map formal and informal transport, improving public transport provision and ease of movement in Egypt’s capital city.

Nissan, ENOC and UPS helping to create world-class connections for people, goods and ideas.

During the first three cycles of the Innovation Impact Grant Programme, 70 grantees from 42 countries were selected across our three key subthemes.

Throughout the journey to 2020 and during the six-month event, Expo Live will continue to provide funding, business guidance and exposure to help ensure Global Innovators reach their full potential.

For example, Expo 2020 has partnered with Nissan to demonstrate and showcase the future of intelligent mobility. The Japanese firm is providing Expo 2020 with a fleet of vehicles, including electric vehicles and next generation cars with advanced technologies. Together, we aim to accelerate the electrification of mobility in the region before, during and after the World Expo.

Advancements in mobility like these can help stimulate new forms of collaboration and unimagined possibilities for progress.

Will drone pilots be the delivery drivers of tomorrow? Will brick-and-mortar classrooms become redundant as students learn online? Will augmented and virtual reality allow people on opposite sides of the planet to meet without damaging the environment?

Expo 2020 wants to harness innovative examples of mobility to create a future in which technology helps us to overcome physical barriers and preserve our environment. We are already supporting

The UAE has always been a connecting place for travellers and for people to seek new opportunities. Expo 2020 Dubai aims to take forward the country’s position at the forefront of mobility in all its forms.

“

EXPO 2020 DUBAI

7

Issue 09 | July 2018

COVER STORY

Paving the Way to Greener Roads

Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman, General Manager of Emirates Transport, sheds light on the Corporation’s strategy to affect social and environmental sustainability in the UAE’s transport sector.

A Drive into a cleaner environment with our Green Auto Loan Introducing GreenAutoLoan - the latest feature of our low-carbon commitment.

s 2020 approaches, what are some of the main goals that Emirates Transport is hoping to achieve?

Our main strategic goal for the next five years is to maintain our position as market leaders by focusing on efficiency and quality, and to sustain growth by targeting new investment opportunities in the provision of transport management services. We will also work towards developing business and key activities, and directing them towards automation and transport technology, and of course, promoting innovation and building new capabilities.

Like you, Emirates NBD wants to play an active role in creating a sustainable future, and we’ve partnered with several brands to offer special pricing on select Electric cars. We call it GreenAutoLoan, and with one you can avail special interest rates starting from 1.99%* & a Pre-loaded Green voucher up to AED 1,500 which supports Salik and parking fees.

It’s the latest development of ’Go Green’, a scheme we’ve designed in support of the UAE’s Vision 2021 to create an economy driven by sustainability. As a signatory to the United Nations Environment Programme Dubai Declaration on Sustainable Finance, Emirates NBD is committed to driving the UAE toward a more sustainable future.

What would you say are the Corporations’ main contributions in the field of sustainability and green initiatives?

Visit emiratesnbd.com/greenautoloan to find out more. *Interest rate varies every 6 months linked to 6 months EIBOR plus fixed margin

For more information SMS ALGR to 4454

Emirates Transport has a deep understanding of the issues of social responsibility that extend to the areas of environment, occupational safety, health and road safety. The company has Get mobile banking

Share with us

685794

9

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

“

Emirates Transport is a support services provider. Our main goal is to assist our partners in mobilisation and transportation, thereby allowing them to focus on their core business.

“

therefore continuously updated its vision, and made it compatible with the needs of the community and the requirements of sustainability.

Mass transit is an essential part of the transport culture that Emirates Transport seeks to establish in the community, and this is an ideal solution to a number of global challenges facing the transport sector, particularly the need to reduce emissions, carbon footprint and traffic congestions.

Our fleet includes 10,251 large, medium and small buses, including 5,765 school buses. Thousands of transferees contribute significantly to sustainable transport solutions daily, whilst also 10

benefitting from this facility. A previous study by the Corporation in 2014, in collaboration with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, showed that the annual reduction in emissions of school transport alone amounted to 92,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).

awards. Such projects also constituted a role model for other industry leaders and served as additional evidence of environmental conservation within the context of achieving development and striving towards economic profitability.

Emirates Transport has continuously sought to encourage this approach among different segments of society, especially its employees, by providing this service to 1,075 of them in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Dubai through 49 buses.

In 2017, the Corporation placed more emphasis on such projects by resuming preexisting initiatives rather than launching new ones, such as the conversion of diesel buses into hybrid vehicles, and testing the first electric school bus at a regional level.

Eco-friendly investment projects, successfully launched by the Corporation several years ago, have gained momentum and won several local, regional and global

Emirates Transport, in cooperation with ADNOC, converted 8,096 vehicles into hybrids, in addition to providing maintenance services for 2,340 vehicles

that had been previously converted.

They won an award at Arabia CSR in the category of Partnerships and Collaborations for this. The main idea lay in modifying diesel buses to operate through a dual fuel system of both diesel and natural gas. This project has several benefits from both the environmental and investment perspective. For example, it reduced fuel costs overall by 25%, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

Emirates Transport also stepped up its efforts in sustainability with the final phase of field tests for the first electric school bus in the region in 2017. The bus accommodates 45 students and has zero emissions, whereas similar traditional diesel or petrol powered buses consume

0.347 litres per km with corresponding numbers in emissions.

In a sincere effort to provide effective infrastructure for bus operations, two integrated electric charging stations have been established and equipped to serve these buses. It is worth mentioning that bus batteries can be fully charged within four hours, and are sufficient for travel up to a distance of 100 km within extreme operating conditions, including running air conditioners and all other electronic devices.

Carbon footprint measurements conducted by Emirates Transport in 2017, in cooperation with the Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence, revealed that the

Corporation’s carbon footprint continued its relative decrease, particularly in comparison to its recent, ongoing growth in revenue, as well as in the size of its fleet, which accounts for 97%of the Corporation’s carbon footprint.

How are rising fuel prices and increased awareness on emissions reduction affecting the transport sector?

Emirates Transport is working with its allies and providing them with all the support needed, taking into consideration all aspects of environmental and economic needs. We have already started including hybrid/electric vehicles into our fleet, and supplied fully electric cars to the ministries. Furthermore, our recently announced fully electric school bus will also help to make a massive dent in emissions overall.

Emirates Transport has had record growth in contracts and revenue in the last few years. Does this imply a substantial increase in demand for transport services?

Our main goal is to support our clients in mobilisation and transportation services, thereby allowing them to focus on their core business.

Making these services available to our clients has also helped our own business grow by 30%. This is a genuine indicator of the excellent standard of services provided by Emirates Transport and the amount of business generated across the UAE. Regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), what strategies have Emirates Transport implemented thus far? Could you also expand upon 11

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

C

M

Y

CM

these, as well as any plans on instilling them into the company culture?

Since its inception in 1981, Emirates Transport’s interest in social responsibility issues has evolved in parallel with its development. And with the growing diversity of its services, has branched to the extent we witness today.

The corporation has developed a comprehensive CSR programme, which includes a wide range of activities and initiatives in various areas of social responsibility, placing it amongst the leading corporate institutions, particularly due to its remarkable success in integrating investment objectives with social and environment commitments.

Our initiatives hope to reflect the Emirates Green Development Strategy, which is aimed at achieving a more sustainable economic development. We believe in preserving the environment for future 12

generations through the adoption of responsible business activities and practices, in close cooperation with federal and local government agencies, and partners in the private and civil sector.

Ironically, our CSR strategy started with one singular founding initiative – the noble task of providing transport services to government schools. And from there on, Emirates Transport has won awards and accolades over the years for its various CSR initiatives. These include the RAKEZ Business Excellence Awards the category of ‘Best Practices of Corporate Responsibility’, as well as the Arabia CSR Awards and the Dubai Chamber CSR Label.

The Year of Zayed was a good opportunity for Emirates Transport to add more diversity to its existing initiatives. Another 18 were added to the ongoing 22 CSR initiatives, which were implemented through the Corporation’s various

departments and branches across the UAE, in cooperation with different community parties. Two of these initiatives, ‘Support a Colleague’ and ‘Umrah Trips for Employees’, have been awarded the Innovation category in the field of volunteerism and humanitarian work in the sixth edition of the UAE Ideas Conference.

What are Emirates Transport’s key plans for the future of transport and logistics?

In terms of the future, one of the main areas of focus for us is Innovation and Shaping the Future. This value is about committing to providing an environment that encourages creativity and innovation, and constantly seeks to adopt the latest processes, innovative services and management practices that address the customers’ needs, whilst simultaneously responding to their expectations and aspirations.

MY

CY

CMY

K

Issue 09 | July 2018

shutterstock.com

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

#THEGREENECONOMIST

A City Transformed

By Ivano Iannelli CEO, Dubai Carbon

T

hirty years from now, cities will have undergone considerable transformations in their pursuit of creating sustainable living conditions for residents. It has been predicted that by 2050, at least 70% of the world’s population will live, commute, and work in urban areas.

But whether or not conditions continue to be favourable, will depend largely on the level of sustainability and technological advances in transport.

Transportation, it seems, has always decided the hierarchy of settlements.

Historically the invention of the fast moving rail engine forever changed the pattern of human settlements, with cities expanding beyond previous limits and the activities of trade and commerce also flourishing.

14

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (a term coined by the World Economic Forum) gathers momentum however, the transport sector will need to meet a rapid growth in demand, without increasing congestion and pollution.

We are already seeing European cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Brussels going almost completely car-free. Paris’s mayor is currently hellbent on banning cars from driving in the city centre, and Mexico City’s local government plans on prohibiting about 2 million cars on certain days of the week.

Navigation technology is already, and will continue to play a crucial role in streamlining this process. We are Google.

Anyone with a smartphone is immediately plugged into the live location network which helps to identify not only where there is traffic, but how far it stretches and how much time it’ll take to get through it.

Every move we make is tracked. But what happens to this data? Today we only use it to look at maps. Tomorrow we might

use it to allow cars to communicate with each other, which will amplify self-driving technology, and minimise accidents.

Moving forward, a factor that’ll play a key role in the way we approach mobility and alter the very fabric of the cityscape itself, is a new class of digitally-enabled labour force that prefers to work remotely.

FEATURE

A Bolt from the Blue

With each incremental improvement in connectivity, the workforce – just like work itself – is already becoming increasingly mobile. Digitisation will see to the very meaning of mobility changing.

Indeed, the youth in this region is the first cohort of workers to be mobile on their own terms, moving freely where others before them relocated out of necessity.

Facilitating this change in behaviour, we’ll see cities offer a much wider variety of sustainable transport. To adapt, automobile manufacturers are already implementing drastic changes in strategy and innovation in order to produce solutions that are not only sustainable and affordable, but that can be easily accessed by this new generation of discerning customers.

And speaking of discerning; scandals that we’ve witnessed recently from the likes of VW and, now Audi, regarding carbon emissions, will be tolerated less and less, and customers will most likely look to completely new modes of transport that cater to their flexible and ever-changing needs.

In Dubai, it has been predicted that by 2035, 90% of all vehicles will be driverless and 20% will be solar powered. And with the promise of revolutionary Hyperloop technology, flying taxis and plans to go to Mars, it looks like the city will see a change in the way its residents approach their commute.

Launched at the Dubai International Motor Show in 2017, the Chevrolet Bolt EV allowed its designers to innovate from the ground up, creating a new generation EV for everyone.

A

s Chevrolet’s first groundup, long-range electric vehicle, the 2017 Bolt EV reportedly offered its designers unprecedented freedom, resulting in a vehicle that crosses boundaries and challenges expectations in the electric vehicle (EV) segment.

The vehicle offers a best in its class driving range of over 500 km on a single

charge as per the New European Driving Cycle, meaning that customers will never have to visit a gas station again.

With zero emissions, the Chevrolet Bolt EV provides an eco-friendly ride that is enhanced by the vehicle’s beautifully sculpted exterior, spacious interior, advanced safety features, and innovative technologies including electronic precision shift, a Regen on Demand™

steering wheel paddle and a 10.2-inchdiagonal colour touchscreen.

Among a growing roster of independent accolades, the Chevrolet Bolt EV was most recently recognised with the prestigious 2017 North American Car of the Year Award.

“We were given a blank canvas – a rare opportunity with a unique platform to recast EV design for customers across the spectrum,” said Stuart Norris, managing director of Design. “The team answered the challenge with a progressive design distinguished by dramatic graphics and exceptional passenger space.”

The Bolt EV’s styling centers on its unique proportion, which is driven by a flat battery pack mounted beneath the 15

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

The large greenhouse offers a panoramic view from upright, SUV-like seating positions. The rear-window glass extends all the way to the license plate and integrates with LED taillamps on the liftgate. By integrating the taillamps into the full-width liftgate, the Bolt EV’s architecture enables a wide opening that makes it easier to slide boxes and other items in and out of the vehicle.

LED headlamps wrap around the forward edge of the front fascia, creating an aggressive character. The signature Chevrolet dual-element grille has been reimagined and features a smooth, clean and integrated design incorporating graphics with depth and a three-dimensional quality. It is offered with two signature colors, harmonized with the exterior color choices. Due to the packaging of the battery pack, the Bolt EV interior offers seating for five passengers and 16.9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat.

“The flat-pack orientation offered the flexibility to make the most of the proportions while creating a clean, sculpted design,” said Norris. “This really opened up the interior and created a fantastic view from every seating position. All of this additional space gave us a lot of opportunities to play with creative design and storage solutions.”

16

“

We were given a blank canvas - a rare opportunity with a unique platform to recast EV design for customers across the spectrum.

“

interior floor. A 102.4-inch wheelbase and wide track give it a solid stance and the look of a small crossover. A short front overhang indicates that driving power comes from next-generation technology.The large windows, plunging beltline and steeply raked windshield contribute to the progressive profile and emphasize the interior’s spaciousness and bright airy feel.

A “floating” instrument panel, for example, features a 10.2-inch-diagonal capacitive-touch control screen which creates a horizontal feel to the interior.

Maximizing knee room and cross-vehicle spaciousness.

Additionally, a multipurpose, connected center console features side-by-side cupholders, a wireless charging location and a sliding armrest covering a storage compartment large enough to store a tablet device. In the rear, the Bolt EV’s 16.9 cubic feet of cargo space is more than offered in the Honda Fit (16.6 cubic feet) and the BMW i3 (15.1 cubic feet).

Artful engineering solutions complement the practical use of space, with features such as thin-frame seats that enhance rear-seat roominess. The seats also incorporate the side air bag modules as design elements.The interior is offered in a fresh, bright color palette that emphasizes the open passenger

environment – with signature-color Electrification blue ambient lighting emanating from beneath metallic white decorative trim.

“The Bolt EV’s design elements are designed for everyday life and the space inside accommodates it all, whether you and your friends go shopping for the day or take off for the weekend,” said Norris.

“Inside and out, this game-changing vehicle makes a dramatic statement with a distinctive identity that can only be a Chevy and challenges expectations for what an affordable EV can offer.”

Liberty Automobiles, the UAE’s dealer for Chevrolet, has in turn become one of the country’s first automotive dealers to install a Chevrolet Bolt EV charging station for its customers.

The development reflects Liberty’s dedication to promoting electric vehicles and a cleaner, greener era of transportation in the UAE in line with the government’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050.

Sheikh Zayed Khalid Al Qasimi, Group Deputy Chairman of Liberty Investment Company (Holding Company of Liberty Automobiles), commented: “At Liberty, we are committed to playing a major role in the next chapter of the Middle East’s EV story as we believe electric vehicles are the future of transport.”

“In preparation for the Chevrolet Bolt EV’s UAE debut later this year, we are pleased to be providing our customers with a convenient and easy accessible location where they can charge their vehicles with minimum hassle. In support of our government’s directives, we are proud to be accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles across the country.”

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

The carsharing phenomenon – which has been around in the US and Europe for decades - comes with environmental benefits including reduced levels of air pollution, less parking infrastructure issues, less road expansions and more resources for park development and urban green spaces. For every one carshare car on the road means there are seventeen owned cars off the road thereby contributing largely to the decrease in air pollution. With the environment on the agenda of most GCC countries, carshare is an incredibly viable option for consumers and Governments alike. A recent study suggests that the shift from private car use to carsharing vehicles was taken into consideration and resulted in an average reduction of −312 to −146 kg CO2/year for car sharers.

CASE STUDY

Sharing is Caring

The future of shared mobility in the Middle East.

Vilhelm Hedberg CEO and Co-Founder eKar

W

e live in an era where the sharing economy is gaining formidable momentum. We have seen the likes of Airbnb allow travellers the opportunity to discover new cities while enjoying the joys and comforts of living in a home rather than a hotel.

Recently PwC identified five key sharing sectors with high growth potential – travel, car-sharing, finance, staffing and music/video streaming – and estimates that these sectors alone will increase the 18

sharing economy from the US$15 billion industry it was in 2014 to US$335 billion in 2025. And when it comes to mobility, especially in cities like Dubai, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Manama there is a shift in the way that we travel – with a ‘sharing is caring’ approach coming into play.

Let’s face it, owning a car is expensive – monthly loan payments, insurance, petrol payments for a vehicle which is only used for about 5-10% of any given day – a drive to work and then home doesn’t always justify these costs.

Car rental is also a pricey option with lots of paperwork involved, putting down a hefty deposit and also having to

physically travel – probably by taxi – to pick up the vehicle. And this is why we founded ekar – to make driving fun and accessible without the hefty price tag and responsibility of ownership.

Our primary aim when starting ekar was to make the technology as simple and streamlined as possible. We use stateof-the-art instant reservations and smart access technology, providing a network of vehicles for on-demand rent across the Middle East. ekar enables users to easily discover and book available cars via its mobile app and website providing a costeffective alternative to daily and monthly rentals by offering a “pay-by-the-minute” pricing scheme. Also, our one time sign

With the momentum which comes from a generation comfortable to share, I envisage that car-share members will outnumber car owners in the Gulf by 2025. For us, by the end of this year we will have both luxury and economy cars on GCC’s roads, increasing to over 5,000 by the end of 2019. Since our launch in the UAE with 100 cars the projected figures are certainly impressive but could not have been reached without the support and guidance of Government entities such as Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport (DoT). What’s more, forward thinking companies such as Saudi Aramco have embraced carshare and are using our technology across their employee’s fleet.

“

...the shift from private car use to carsharing vehicles was taken into consideration and resulted in an average reduction of −312 to −146 kg CO2/year...

“

up process is super simple - the only requirement being the user’s driving license to be at least six months old.

carbon emissions footprint from cradle to grave and most electric cars in the market can be integrated with our carshare technology from INVERS. The GCC has shown commitment to further grow the infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicles, for example currently in the UAE there are 50 charging stations in Abu Dhabi and 100 in Dubai and this is set to dramatically increase in the next 5 years.

Our partners are also hugely important in expanding our fleet and providing maximum mobility solutions for our customers. Recent partnerships with brands such as Volkswagen and Mini have meant that not only do we have more cars on the roads but that our customers have

a wide range of different cars to choose from – a bit like deciding what to wear each morning, we have cars for every occasion.

Looking into the future, I firmly believe that the sharing economy will grow from strength to strength with the carsharing market slated to record a massive double digit y-o-y growth (34.8%), with a projected revenue collection of more than US$16.5 billion by 2024. The key to this growth is an open dialogue and working together to find viable mobility solutions using these new technologies to everyone’s advantage – which ultimately benefits Governments, companies, individuals and the environment alike.

Vilhelm Hedberg, CEO and CoFounder eKar (right)

We also see great opportunity in the field of electric vehicle carshares.

Environmentally, electric cars have ½ 19

rd | July 2018 October 2017 Issue 01Issue | 2309

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

A lack of mobility in our region has held back economic growth. Nowhere in the region is this more apparent than Palestine and Iraq, where mobility is severely constrained and has limited economic opportunity for a talented and driven workforce.

By Mudassir Sheikha Co-Founder and CEO of Careem

We are determined to overcome local challenges so that we can simplify mobility for the people of Palestine and Iraq, and we hope to contribute to the rebuilding of their economies. Rather than people needing to buy a car to get to a job, Careem is offering a way for them to get to work, and in doing do, creating a job for someone else. And it’s not just cars we use…

In a few decades, the majority of the human race will live in cities, and the demand for mobility will be unprecedented. Forward thinking will be crucial to ensure getting from A to B is easy and affordable.

A

The traffic in Alexandria is a huge challenge, but a motorbike seems to be a solution to a problem here, and as part of our mission to simplify and improve lives, we’re constantly looking for 20

answers towards improved mobility and sustainability. There’s not one solution for everywhere, but we believe that everywhere has a solution – we just need to match them up and get people moving.

According to the UN, 55 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68 per cent by 2050 - and commuting to and from those urban areas, there will be an incredible demand for various modes of transport. One of the reasons cities are becoming more congested is because

increasingly people are having to move there to work. A daily commute into a city might mean having to buy a car, but a car is still a luxury for the broad part of the population in many countries where we operate, so if Careem can provide an alternative transport then we can move people in, around and out of a city for less.

Shared mobility could lead to an 80 per cent reduction in the number of vehicles by 2050. In turn this reduces pollution and C02 emissions, congestion and need for parking and parking spaces. Around

Careem has scooter trips daily in Cairo, and tuk tuks in Pakistan, boats in Saudi Arabia, trikes in the UAE, golf carts in Egypt and more. In Jordan, 80 per cent of our fleet is hybrid and we’ve just added Tesla electric vehicles to our platform in Dubai.

We look at what fits the distinct makeup of each location, and if you look at the markets where we are present, we have tried to reduce prices and make our service more affordable while doing so.

It’s often said that we are all moving from an owning culture to a sharing one and carpooling is one other way to achieve the affordability of the service and reduce congestion on the roads – we currently run a car-pooling service in Alexandria, Jeddah and Amman. Carpooling like this reduces the number of cars on the road as well as

Mudassir Sheikha, Co-Founder & CEO of Careem

reducing traffic congestion, which in turn means the cars are out there for less time on each journey.

While we know that Careem is often seen as a ride-hailing firm, but we see ourselves as an A.I. driven company, and Careem uses advanced A.I. and machine learning.

We use this to predict what - and where the demand will be in the near future and as a result, where drivers will be needed.

This helps us ensure that waiting times are a low as possible and our drivers can secure more fares.

When you book on our app nearly 500 actions happen from the second you press the button to your ride arriving, and if you use the Careem service for six months, the

It’s often said that we are all moving from an owning culture to a sharing one and carpooling is one other way to achieve the affordability of the service and reduce congestion on the roads.

“

Advancing Commute

friend of mine who lives in the Egyptian city of Alexandria has a regular meeting each week and getting there takes him 45 minutes by car. But on a Careem motorbike? Three minutes, and it costs half the price.

“

50 hours per person every month are spent in traffic and 60 per cent of trips only have one passenger per vehicle, so pooling is our focus of shared transport in 2018.

FEATURE

A.I. will become much more in tune with your needs because it keeps learning how to provide you with a better service.

Since launching, Careem has rapidly grown and created around 850,000 jobs and we are creating between 60,000 and 70,000 new jobs every month as the Careem model for moving people expands into more cities and countries across the region.

It’s our mission at Careem to simplify and improve lives, and in doing so we are helping the places in which we are present change the way they commute, move, work and live for the better.

21

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

I AM THE SUSTAINABILIST

Faisal Rashid Director, Demand Side Management, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE)

W

hat is your personal connection to the idea of sustainability, and how was this attitude instilled in you growing up in UAE? I’m sure by now all your readers will know the classical definition of sustainability from the Brundtland Report. Perhaps a more holistic understanding in today’s discourse on sustainable development is to think of it as a way to transform and enhance the society to live in harmony, which has an environmental, economic and social dimension.

“

The need for mobility must be weighed against the environmental, social and economic costs and treated just the same as electricity and water – as a precious resource.

“

22

When it comes to the environment, while Dubai may resemble any global city in the world, we are in a desert area, and that brings along a specific set of challenges which today are more a good set of historical stories but nonetheless has formed our way of thinking about the future. Water used to be a scarce resource in Dubai not that long ago, and first refrigerators and air conditioners did not appear here before the 1970-ies.

Today’s life, in comparison, feels like another world – and while now we do have an abundance, we will also work that much harder to maintain the comforts of life we have in a more sustainable manner, ensuring sensible resources invested in generating electricity and water are used in best way possible, which goes right along with principles of economic sustainability – and providing a defined

level of economic production for good.

Finally, our great society has managed to create a place where so many nations live and work together, enabling better lives not just for residents of Dubai and UAE, but also for hundreds of thousands of families abroad. I am therefore very personally connected to sustainability, both professionally in the Supreme Council of Energy and in own life.

What role does sustainability play in the transport sector as a whole?

The need for mobility must be weighed against the environmental, social and economic costs and treated just the same as electricity and water – as a precious resource. Making transport sustainable does not mean to transport less, especially in a growing economy such as the one of Dubai and UAE – it means doing it more sustainably – evaluating particular vehicles for road, water or air transport, their performance and alignment with international standards, infrastructure that transport uses, and where possible, any alternatives which don’t compromise on transport user comfort or functionality.

In the short term, improvement of fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions controls will be in focus, while long-term goals include transitioning transport from fossilfuel based system to other alternatives, including electric vehicles and other innovations that are already here or are yet to come.

What does the future of transportation look like? Do you foresee major changes in shipping and freight and other vehicles in the near future? What other innovations do you expect will really take effect in decades from now?

There are some exciting prospects ahead that can be found in the media, and we can only guess how much more are still in laboratories and workshops, being developed by brightest minds on the planet. Hyperloop, vertical takeoff planes, autonomous vehicles, use of drones for delivery of goods, hydrogen vehicles… list keeps going on. Out of these, autonomous vehicles, should technology be able to fully catch up with the human brain when it comes to driving in the real environment, offers some of the best improvements of transport out there – it will completely change the way private transportation works.

The era of horse and carriage did not end because we ran out of horses; it ended because using horses as way to move around was disrupted by more pioneering technology. So, horses did not vanish from the planet, they just became obsolete for the purpose of mass transportation. At that time these things seemed impossible, just like having a phone in the pocket, capable of connecting to systems where social life is completely recreated in apps and websites seemed impossible only about 20 years ago. Major changes are certainly ahead, to the benefit of all of us.

23

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

FEATURE

Containing Green

Gulftainer outlines its commitment towards the society and environment.

Group CEO of Gulftainer

A

chieving sustainable development goals which include not harming the environment, current or future generation is one of the top priorities for the UAE government. This vision is imbedded within our organization as well, and every Gulftainer member is mindful of their responsibility towards the society and environment.

The environment is a part of our CSR pillars, along with employability, health and safety and corporate governance.

Conservation of the environment, specifically the marine life, is a primary concern to us since we operate in such close proximity to it. Over the past eight years, we have been supporting the Emirates-Wildlife Society World Wildlife Fund (EWS-WWF), including their Marine Turtle Conservation project, which continues to create awareness about the plight of these critically endangered creatures.

We take our responsibilities to the environment, especially its vital oceans, very seriously and our support of this project is just one of the many ways in which we work to ensure our commitment to preserving and protecting the wonders of the sea for generations to come.

24

In the past year, we have monitored our environmental performance, which has led to measurable increases in recycling programmes and a reduction in overall waste generation. We have been conscious of our resource use, and plan to continue to minimise our ecological footprint wherever we can by supporting public conservation agendas.

In the past “year, we have

monitored our environmental performance, which has led to measurable increases in recycling programmes and a reduction in overall waste generation.

“

By Peter Richards

Leader in the Energy Transition

We have hybrid Rubber Tyred Gantries (RTGs) installed in all our terminals which eliminate carbon emissions whilst operating on a mains power supply.

Moreover, there is significant reduction in noise pollution as the main engine is switched off while the RTG is supplied with power from the main grid. When it comes to waste water, it is recycled and reused within our terminals, with all final waste being segregated, clearly labelled and disposed of in a proper manner.

Our diesel and fuel consumption are monitored as well, where we keep an eye out for carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, to see which are higher than acceptable levels.

In all our offices and terminal facilities, we have implemented recycling paper, plastic, e-wastes and oils, batteries and tyres in the engineering departments to name just a few. We no longer dispose of any of our waste into landfills.

We’ve been the GCC’s leading energy partner for 30 years, offering expert solutions in the field of low-carbon energy and transformational energy services.

With our customers, we forge ahead together in building a sustainable future for the region.

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

4 Ways Abu Dhabi Airport is Making Travel Easier This Summer

shutterstock.com

CASE STUDY

In for the Long-Haul

Mohammed Al Katheeri, Senior Vice President Strategy & Communications, Abu Dhabi Airports

Airports have a quiet but important role to play in the future of sustainable transport.

By Mohammed Al Katheeri Senior Vice President Strategy & Communications, Abu Dhabi Airports

A

viation has undeniably transformed the world in ways that could not have been foreseen when the first fixed-wing aircraft emerged at the dawn of the twentieth century. The subsequent connectivity and accessibility revolutionized modern socio-economics and facilitated global commerce in a way that has few comparisons. At the same time, responsible for 2.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, the industry’s notable environmental footprint cannot be denied.

The age-old adage that every action has a reaction — that there is always a cost — seems suitable. In fact, at times, this logic has crept into conversations around sustainability and the introduction of environmental policies. Sustainable choices can sometimes be seen as a trade-off between a healthy natural and social environment on the one hand and healthy business on the other. Indeed, one of the main challenges we have experienced throughout our journey towards long-term sustainability has been to shift the way we conceptualise and approach such issues.

At the end of the day, a business cannot be sustainable if it is not environmentally and socially responsible. As a result, Abu Dhabi Airports does not view decisions around sustainability as a tradeoff. Rather, we work to ensure our environmental capital and business longevity alike. As large logistics and travel hubs, even the smallest of changes made at airports can have a significant and environmentally beneficial impact. From this perspective, airports have a notable role to play in ensuring a future of transport that is environmentally sustainable — if not also a quiet 26

one, compared with the innovation being carried out by aerospace manufacturers.

to end products and services — and has an instant impact on our net emissions.

Such a holistic perspective has allowed us to introduce policies that have had a significant impact on our net emissions.

This year alone, we have been recognised twice by Airports Council International (ACI) programmes that oversee airports’ energy efficiency and carbon emissions.

In April, Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) became the first airport in the UAE to be awarded the Gold Certificate Recognition by ACI as a result of displaying consistent commitment towards energy conservation. Just last month, AUH achieved ACI’s ‘reduction’ level of accreditation after demonstrating effective carbon management procedures and a reduction in emissions using data over the past seven years.

Secondly, efficiency across energy consumption, natural resource management and waste management processes are key principles in our efforts to reduce environmental impact that must be core considerations from the design phase of airports and related structures.

We aim for all of our projects to achieve a minimum of a 2 Pearl rating under the Urban Planning Council’s Estidama Pearl Building Rating System. The design of the Midfield Terminal Bundling (MTB) was awarded a 3 Pearl rating, and it is currently the largest single building ever rated. All elements considered and implemented in the MTB design contribute to the building’s overall performance and efficiency, while also meeting our business objectives and customer experience requirements.

One of the main ways that we have been able to achieve such results is by introducing and enforcing policies around partner selection. By embedding sustainability principles into our projects’ contracts, we have created opportunities for ‘green’ suppliers, contractors and other third-parties, giving them an advantage over their less environmental competitors.

This practice can be applied throughout the supply chain — from upstream materials

By placing these policies, practices and principles at the heart of our activities, we have been working towards our ambitious goal of AUH becoming a carbon neutral airport. We are continuously studying new ways to further improve our approach to sustainability across our day to day business, and have made some notable progress as a result.

Transit visas on arrival A new transit visa counter has been set up inside AUH to grant both transit and arriving passengers visas to Abu Dhabi within 30 minutes.

Flight updates on social media The new BizTweet service allows incoming and outgoing passengers to AUH to receive real time flight updates to their Twitter and Facebook accounts

The smart travel system This system allows passengers to check-in and move through immigration and security interacting exclusively with innovative technology.

Retail therapy & explore Expect multiple offers, discounts and vouchers at the Duty Free, and transit passengers can now even store their luggage at the departures level if they choose to step out of the airport to explore the city.

27

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

What’s the market like for electric vehicles right now?

There are currently around 4 million global EVs on the road and an estimated 120,000 public charging stations. While more charging stations are installed in areas heavily populated by EVs, this will soon change to involve all public spaces in order to encourage drivers to make the switch.

By 2025, global sales of EVs are estimated to reach AED 92 million.

What other new technologies or products/projects that you’ve seen recently are you excited about and why?

In conversation with Rimoun Hanouch, Group General Manager of Liberty Automobiles Co., which holds the brands Cadillac, Chevrolet, Opel and Kawasaki in the UAE.

W

hat role does sustainability play in the automotive sector as a whole?

Switching from fuel vehicles to EVs is one of the UAE’s mandates for sustainability.

EVs will have virtually no emissions and will be charged using electricity, which is a cleaner and more environmentally conscious option than the current dependence on fuel. Sustainability is a top priority in the automotive sector and innovation is taking place at a rapid pace to drive progress in this area.

How do you go about devising and implementing a strategy for sustainability at Liberty? What is your process?

28

Leading by example is probably the most effective approach and starting with yourself leads to the real change, we at Liberty Investment Company have launched our ‘Liberty Green’ program a couple of years ago. The program aims at saving energy by increasing awareness among our team members and practicing it in our own facilities. The program has rolled out to be very effective and we’ve seen promising results from year one.

What does the future of transportation look like? Do you foresee electric vehicles completely replacing fuel vehicles? What other innovations do you expect will really take effect in 10, 20, 30 years from now?

Consumers are becoming increasingly

environmentally conscious and aware, and savvy companies are picking up on that trend. By 2020, EVs are likely to cost the same as conventional fuel-powered cars. While this may put a dent in the revenue of fuelpowered cars, it will also open up fresh opportunities for car manufacturers to offer new services for charging infrastructure companies and the manufacturing of batteries. Beyond then, I predict a high adoption rate for EV vehicles until fuel-powered cars join their technological counterparts in the history books of human advancements. The imagination is the limit to our creativity and in 20 years, innovations like ultra-fast charging cars and even solar-powered cars may become the norm.

In the wake of big global scandals like VW, what are car manufacturers and sellers doing in terms of innovation and strategy to ensure the trust of the public?

All car manufacturers are under pressure to lead the change when it comes to sustainability, but VW was a cautionary tale to other companies that they cannot take short cuts by pulling the wool over their customers’ eyes. The automotive sector needs to take an honest and conscientious approach to achieving

sustainability and this involves educating the public, making information accessible, and improving technology so that we can meet our environmental goals. Liberty is committed to this endeavor.

Will we see more investment go into innovative technologies within the automotive sector? Is there a landscape for this here in the UAE? Yes, we already are — the evolution of the automotive sector is all about upcoming technologies like digital cockpits that will become sleeker to include large touch-screens with tactile controls, and intelligent cars that will recognize a vehicle’s owner upon proximity.

There is a welcoming landscape for the adoption of such tech in the UAE as it is a nation that embraces new technological trends and welcomes innovations of all kinds.

www.cadillac.com

The Future is Electric

When it comes to EVs, I am most looking forward to wireless charging innovations that will revolutionize charging grids installed on roads, allowing cars to never need to stop for a recharge. Otherwise, ‘B-Droids’ — robotic bees that can

shutterstock.com

INTERVIEW

pollinate crops as effectively as their organic counterparts — are arguably one of the most interesting innovations in the sustainability sector. With the drastic drop in the number of bees globally, and the vital role they play in our ecosystem, I would like to see B-Droids launched and implemented in as many countries as is possible.

29

Issue 09 | July 2018

shutterstock.com

CENTRE FOLD

Emirates Transport is Driving Technology

Stepping into a mindset of sustainability for the future of transport is going to require embracing digital transformation to elevate the sector.

— Let’s write the future by building the transport infrastructure of tomorrow.

ABB’s contribution to the e-mobility revolution goes far beyond technological innovation. By installing, maintaining and managing nationwide charger networks, we enable countries and consumers to make the transition to electric transportation.

Together, we are laying the global foundations for a future of reliable, accessible and emission-free mobility. To discover more, visit abb.com

T

here is no doubt that the adoption and integration of new technology is imperative to ensure the transportation sector remains a well-oiled machine. With an ever-increasing population, the Middle East will experience a sharp escalation in the demand for mobility, and the UAE is no exception. Emirates Transport (ET), one of the largest transportation and logistics services companies in the Middle East, has recognised the need for the integration of new tech to drive its operations forward.

In the last year, ET launched the pilot version of a smart application that would enable drivers to request roadside assistance in the event of a breakdown,

or other car-related trouble. According to Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman, General Manager of ET, the initiative fell within ET’s plans to introduce smart technology platforms for services it provides to individual clients, to fall inline with the directives and trends of the UAE Government. Once up and running, the app will allow drivers to request road assistance service should they face mechanical or technical difficulties, or in case of accidents.

The system is linked directly to an operations room at ET’s Roadside Assistance Unit which specialises in providing roadside assistance, 24 hours a day, to companies and individual clients throughout the state.

Meanwhile, ET has also seen a significant uptake in the demand for vehicles that are more environmentally friendly. This shows increased awareness among the UAE’s population, and will most likely see an uptake in advancements of alternative fuel, electric vehicles and alternative transport.

ET’s subsidiary, Al Etihad Centre, which specialises in converting vehicles to operate on compressed natural gas (CNG), recently announced it had modified 320 vehicles in the first half of 2018.

The Centre, which serves a mixed clientele from both the government and private sectors including ministries, police departments, taxi companies, as well as individual motorists, was first 31

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

“

Emirates Transport (ET), one of the largest transportation and logistics services companies in the Middle East, has recognised the need for the integration of new tech to drive its operations forward.

“

inaugurated in 2010 and has since modified more than 9,500 vehicles to the dual petrol/CNG model.

vehicles and machinery, as the project has significant environmental and economic benefits.

In March of this year ET also announced the launch of the first CNG operated forklift in the UAE. The launch was seen as a potentially significant step with regards to the use of CNG to power industrial

Not surprisingly, ET’s other subsidiary, the Centre for Valet Parking and Motorbike Rentals, announced a 20% increase in motorcycle and electric vehicle rental contracts in 2017, compared to 2016.

32

Khalid Yousef Al Ali, manager of the Centre for Valet Parking and Motorbike Rentals, confirmed that ET’s motorcycle fleet is also equipped with smart systems including GPS tracking, which provides the driver with information and data to help him avoid traffic.

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

“

The Green Charger initiative effectively contributes towards achieving the UAE Vision 2021 and the Dubai Plan 2021, which aims to make Dubai a smart integrated and connected city...

“

CASE STUDY

DEWA promotes use of sustainable transport to achieve UAE Vision 2021 and Dubai Plan 2021.

I

n 2014, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) launched the Electric Vehicle (EV) Green Charger Initiative to support the Smart Dubai initiative, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime 34

Minister of the UAE, to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world and promote green transportation in the city.

The Green Charger initiative effectively contributes towards achieving the UAE Vision 2021 and the Dubai Plan

2021, which aims to make Dubai a smart, integrated and connected city, sustainable with its resources and where environmental components are clean, healthy and sustainable. DEWA’s smart initiatives help to create a smarter and better future for all residents of Dubai

Electric vehicles (EV) operate on electricity as an alternative for fuel and contribute towards the preservation of the environment through emission reduction. Through the Green Charger initiative, DEWA aims to install and manage the required infrastructure to supply cars with electric power, to decrease air pollution and preserve the environment. Prior to this initiative, there were only a few electric vehicles in Dubai mainly because there was no EV charging infrastructure available. DEWA, as the electricity provider for Dubai, took the lead in setting up the first EV charging infrastructure in the UAE to encourage the public to switch over from petrol to electric vehicles.

During the second quarter of 2014, DEWA began installing 100 charging stations in different areas of Dubai such as government offices, airports, gas stations, shopping malls, commercial offices, clinics and hospitals, residential complexes and establishments. This stage was successfully completed by the end of 2015, in coordination with the relevant parties, including the public and private sectors. DEWA is currently working on installing 100 more charging stations to bring the total number to 200 in 2018.

“The UAE has been one of the pioneering countries that support international efforts to enhance sustainability and green economy; limiting the increasing effects of climate change. Our nation is effectively contributing to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Dubai has a comprehensive vision for a sustainable future that is pivotal to the success of building a green economy. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to establish a sustainable model in energy conservation that supports economic growth without damaging the environment or natural resources. This model can be exported to the whole world. The strategy also aims to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. DEWA contributes efficiently to environmental conservation and sustainable development. Through the Green Charger initiative, DEWA aims to encourage people to use sustainable transportation, such as electric vehicles, to help reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector, which is the secondhighest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Dubai,” said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

“The Supreme Council of Energy launched the Dubai Green Mobility initiative, to encourage the use of sustainable transport and electric vehicles amongst its members. The Supreme Council issued directive number 1 of 2016 for all government organisations that at least 2% of their vehicle purchases must be electric vehicles from 2016 to 2020. This will then increase to 10% by 2030. Dubai Government has set the tariff for charging electric vehicles by Green Chargers at a cost price of 29 fils per kilowatt hour. This is a significant saving, compared to fuel-powered cars.

For example, a small electric car can be charged and driven for 130 kilometres for just AED 7,” noted Al Tayer.

In 2017, The Dubai Supreme Energy Council, DEWA and the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) announced providing incentives to encourage the public use of electric vehicles in Dubai, to help protect the environment. The incentive allows DEWA’s registered users to have their electric vehicles charged by DEWA’s Green Charger electric vehicle charging stations, completely free. This incentive will last until the end of 2019, and is exclusive to public charging stations; it does not include home charging stations. The move supports the Dubai Green Mobility Initiative, and the Carbon Abatement Strategy to reduce carbon emissions by 16% by 2021.

Furthermore, DEWA plans to install Green Charger electric vehicle charging stations as part of the Green Charger initiative to participate in the development of Al Marmoom Conservation Reserve.

This supports the comprehensive plan to develop Al Marmooom Reserve, launched

by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to promote it as a leading cultural area and tourist attraction.

35

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

Recharge at your destination The Destination Charging program replicates the convenience Model S and Model X owners are accustomed to at home by providing hotels, restaurants, and resorts with the same connectors our owners often install in their garages.

These “wall connectors” add up to 100 kilometers of range per hour, easily giving Model S and Model X a full charge in a few hours.

Tesla has over 50 Destination Charging locations now available and operating in the UAE. International deliveries for lefthand Model 3s will begin in the first half of next year (2019).

“

Our Master Plan, Part Deux highlights future developments for both the automotive industry and beyond.

“

These stations make trips between Dubai and Abu Dhabi even easier. Three more Superchargers will be available for customers in the UAE by the end of the year.

FEATURE

The Tesla Effect Electric Vehicles will eventually overtake fossil fuel vehicles and Tesla plans to be at the forefront of innovation in this field.

A

critical component of the adoption of electric vehicles is to create a seamless and convenient charging experience wherever customers choose to travel. Tesla owners can enjoy the convenience of plugging in anywhere to charge such as at home, in the office, or on a long distance road trip.

36

As mentioned in Tesla’s Secret Master Plan, our long term plan has always been to build affordable cars. In order to achieve this, Tesla had to start with a low volume high priced car (the Roadster) over a mid-volume mid-price car (Model S and X) to a high volume affordable car – Model 3. Our Master Plan, Part Deux highlights future

developments for both the automotive industry and beyond. As well as expanding the product line past luxury and affordable cars, covering all major segments of the market, a key development will be advancing self-driving capabilities that are 10 times safer than manual driving.

Tesla’s Charging Ecosystem Charge from home The most convenient way to charge your Tesla is at home. Model S and Model X provide ample range for daily travel. The majority of owners drive during the day and replenish the balance of remaining charge at night, waking to a full battery in

the morning. Imagine never going to a gas station again.

Supercharge on the road Designed and built by Tesla, Superchargers charge Model S and Model X in minutes rather than hours.

The Supercharger is substantially more powerful than any charging technology to date, providing up to 120 kilowatts of power to replenish a half charge in about 30 minutes.

To support Tesla’s arrival in the UAE, two Supercharger stations have been opened at The Last Exit in Jebel Ali, Sheikh Zayed Road, E11 and in Masdar City.

37

Issue 09 | July 2018

shutterstock.com

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

SCHOOL

Children at the Swiss International School Dubai start learning about sustainable practices from an early age, including road safety, waste management and energy conservation.

SISD Sustainability Coordinator

T

he Swiss International School Dubai believes that sustainability is perhaps the most important call to arms that modern society has met in recent years.

The various environmental conservation issues that plague the world, ranging from water shortages and garbage in the ocean, to anthropogenic climate change, all must be responded to by governments, institutions, and individuals, if we’re to secure the future of our planet.

Aligning with this, Swiss International School Dubai has upheld the challenge of sustainability, through a variety of initiatives at the curriculum level.

SISD’s Sustainability Coordinator Jackie Schemenauer describes a variety of ways in which sustainability is taught in the classroom, in particular addressing the importance of sustainability in the transportation field.

In Grade 1, students inquired into humanmade transportation systems by exploring the societal needs of transportation as well as the personal and social responsibility of road safety. These same students 38

also looked at environmental impacts associated with transportation systems and brainstormed sustainable solutions they can take to minimize environmental impacts such as by walking more and carpooling to school.

hope to inspire in our children a systemsminded thinking that allows them to better appreciate how human activities interact with the world, and adapt their habits to make way for a more sustainable approach to living.”

Grade 1 teacher Niamh Hogan expanded on what’s taught at her level “In Grade 1, we have developed Central Ideas or “themes” to help enhance the conceptual development of our young learners. This year we have had a great opportunity to inquire into the theme of sustainability in today’s society. The children were visited by a Marine Biologist and Project Manager of a Dubai based construction company who gave great insight into the impact waste is having on our environment and what they as young learners could to lessen their negative impacts.”

In Grade 3, students have a six-week energy unit in which they inquire into renewable and non-renewable energy sources and use their learning to come up with sustainable green-energy designs, guided by the environmental, economic, and social lenses of sustainability to guide them throughout the process. Students have creative freedom during the design process and have come up with some great designs, such as a 3D model of a train that runs on kinetic energy harnessed from the tracks it runs on.

“Inquiring into systems has allowed us to develop our prior knowledge on waste management and link our conceptual learning with the changing transport systems in our communities. The children got to experience firsthand how we use our local metro systems, and were given the opportunity to reflect on their experience and inquire into the benefits of utilizing our city’s public transport.”

“Through our extensive initiatives, we

Easy EV Smooth out your braking When an EV brakes, this feature sends kinetic energy back to the battery. If you brake smoothly, this will recapture most of the energy utilised by the car to brake. Hence, avoid braking suddenly, to conserve both the energy and the range of the EV.

Road To Sustainability

Jackie Schemenauer

TOP TIPS

Close the windows and turn off the AC When operating an EV, this is a crucial factor and driving style impacts battery depletion directly.

Accelerating smoothly and avoiding braking suddenly protects against energy loss. Using the AC, sound system and other onboard apps will draw energy from the battery which is the car’s only source of power. If the weather allows it, consider rolling down the windows and stop using all apps, if you have limited range before your next charging point.

Preserving your EVs battery There are various measures that vehicles owners can take to preserve the EVs battery. Simple steps such as avoiding the battery sitting at 100% charge, deep discharging of battery, avoiding extreme temperatures and minimising fast charging can drastically improve the life of the battery.

Clean out your car Batteries are heavy and this tips the scales for EVs, in comparison to petrol-powered equivalents.

Avoid cluttering the car’s trunk with heavy materials or equipment to avoid drag on the car. Even random clutter filling up the car can have an adverse impact on the range.

Apply for your DEWA Green Charger card today If you want to access any DEWA EV charging station, you must have a DEWA Green Charger card. In order to obtain a card to access all DEWA charging stations, visit any DEWA Customer Happiness Centre to register your car and receive your green charger card.

In Secondary school, students continue to further develop their thinking skills and understanding of the interdependence of ecological, economic and social systems.

Students learn how to scale a problem through multiple perspectives and find all the interconnected systems that contribute to the problem. Students engaged with this type of thinking develop the skills necessary to systematically think through a problem and begin to identify leverage points for sustainable changes.

39

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

shutterstock.com

astronaut training and other activities.

Students will learn what it’s like to live and work in space, learn about missions to Mars and design their own Mars base.

The camp will also introduce students to rocketry - the science of rockets and rocket propulsion - they will learn how rockets work and have the chance to build a real model rocket. Every aspect of lifein space will be covered with students even getting the chance to taste real space food.

FEATURE

Future Space Cadets The UAE’s first NASA Space and Rocketry Summer Camp will take place this summer.

U

AE students who dream of travelling to space, engineering rockets, or delving into the depths of designing a mission to Mars are in for a treat next month as the NASA Space and Rocketry Summer Camp 2018 comes to the UAE for the first time.

42

Open to all students aged from 9 to 14 years, the camp will be led by NASA experienced space experts from North America and Europe and will run from Sunday, July 15 to Thursday, August 23.

It will employ NASA’s and the UAE’s space curriculum, space projects,

This is an amazing unique first-time opportunity for students in the UAE to experience the delights of science, engineering, space on a whole new level. The NASA Space and Rocketry Summer Camp is organized by Compass International, the travel brand operating since 2003 and specializing in groundbreaking travel and the Regional Partner for the NASA visitor center U.S. Space and Rocket Center in the United States.

“We’re delighted to be bringing these amazing minds from the world’s leading space agency to UAE to share their knowledge with young people who will be inspired by them for these are unique first of its kind opportunity in the UAE,” said Lissy Donald, CEO and Managing

“

We’re delighted to be bringing these amazing minds from the world’s leading space agency to UAE to share their knowledge with young people who will be inspired by them for these are unique first of its kind opportunity in the UAE.

“

The weekly camps will take place at Lapita Hotel Ballroom, Dubai Parks and Resorts, weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm. It will see NASA instructors mentor the students along their journey into the fascinating world of astronomy and rocketry, as well as special guests to speak about their personal experiences.

They will also help them with any questions they may have about future careers in science and engineering and how best to realize their dreams.

Director of Compass International.

Compass International is also offering an Innovation Academy where students get the chance to polish their skills for the 21st century. The Innovation Academy – A Destination Imagination curriculum inspired summer camp that will give students the experience of learning through creative challenges in either Engineering and Science or Creative, Performing Arts and Improvisation-based activities.

Another first for the UAE, students aged between 7 to 14 years can look forward to learning skills in creativity and innovation, critical thinking, collaboration and teamwork, and communication.

The Innovation Academy will run over the same six-week period at the same location as Space & Rocketry Academy.

Both programs include instruction from international staff, program materials, all supplies, as well as a daily lunch meal and snack break.

43

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

Ready for Take-off What effect is global aviation having on the environment?

shutterstock.com

From a legislation standpoint, there have been significant developments – for example, in October 2016, 191 nations signed a landmark UN accord agreeing to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in aviation-related carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

By Captain Tilmann Gabriel

Course Director of City University of London’s MSc Aviation Management Programmes.

T

here’s no denying the positive economic and social impact that air transport has had on our global society. From making it convenient for us to travel to far-flung places and experience different cultures to enabling isolated communities to have a source of income from tourism, there have been tremendous benefits brought about by aviation. This sector is a major engine for growth - more than 10 million jobs are directly related to aviation. That said, a natural question that begs to be asked is, “what effect is global aviation having on the environment?”

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a leading international body established by the United Nations Environment 44

Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), air transport contributes to 4.9 per cent of human-caused climate change, including emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

In a year, nine billion passengers are flown around the globe and the number is expected to only go up. Here in the Middle East, research by Airbus has revealed that air traffic in the Middle East will double in the next 10 years, and by 2034, the passenger fleet of airlines in this region will grow by 2,365 new passenger aircraft.

As the demand for air travel increases, there is now a greater need to examine ways to reduce its potential damaging effects on our planet.

A major contributor to global warming is kerosene, a fuel used to power aircraft engines, which is not only a scarce resource but also emits carbon dioxide.

Many years ago, governing bodies

and several airlines such as KLM and Lufthansa became one of the first in the industry to venture in the field of aviation environmental action. These include: • The use of new engines which take up less than half the fuel per passenger per kilometre.

• Flying aircraft with electrical engines or battery-driven aircraft.

• Promoting the widespread use of aviation biofuels, which not only work as an alternative to fossil fuel but also emit 50 to 80 per cent less carbon.

In the UAE, Masdar’s Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), has been undertaking important research concerning the development of biofuel.

Established in 2011 and funded by Boeing, Etihad Airways and several other research partners, the Consortium’s role is to advance the aviation industry’s

A further initiative to boost sustainability in aviation is through the development of a commercial model of how airlines are motivated to minimise carbon dioxide emissions. In Europe, a trading platform has been introduced whereby the airlines have entitlements to a certain amount of carbon dioxide emission and have to buy and trade further ‘rights’ to emit on a ‘stock market’.

“

A further initiative to boost sustainability in aviation is through the development of a commercial model of how airlines are motivated to minimise carbon dioxide emissions.

“

commitment to implementing sustainable business practices by developing technology with the promise of producing a cleaner supply of fuel. At Etihad Airways, 2012 saw the national airline of the UAE become the first Middle East carrier to use sustainable biofuel.

FEATURE

Captain Tilmann Gabriel, Course Director, City University of London

When it comes to high carbon footprints brought about by air travel, airports and the surrounding infrastructure, as well, have a massive role to play. Engine noise, especially around airports is another concern for the environmental sustainability of air travel. Airports are able to tackle this problem by setting up sound walls or noise barriers designed to protect against noise pollution.

Similarly, aircraft engine manufacturers are continuously making progress in the reduction of noise emitted from engines.

This is achieved by increasing the noisecontaining airstream around the actual hot and noisy explosive exhausts of each engine.

Another key focus is the reduction of waste from catering on board aircraft – the use of reusable plates and silverware is incentivised with annual awards. Repurposing of items is also an effective method to reduce unnecessary consumption of resources. For instance, at The Emirates Group, retired aircraft fittings are reused when aircraft interiors are being upgraded.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the UN’s specialised organisation for international civil aviation is promoting sustainability through four major initiatives: making aeroplanes quieter by setting noise standards, managing the land around airports in a sustainable way, adapting operational procedures to reduce the noise impact on the ground and introducing operational restrictions.

Through the use of sustainable sources of energy, efficient technology and environmentally friendly material, it is clear that the international aviation sector is making strides in reducing its environmental footprint.

45

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

DISRUPTOR

Taking the Load Off

shutterstock.com

LoadMe.com is an online marketplace for transporters, connecting load owners with available trucks in their area, and disrupting a traditionally manual industry with new technology.

T

he Middle Eastern transportation industry has serious communication gaps between transporters, load owners and agents, and for this reason about 70% of the trucks are moving around without load and every truck that is running empty on the streets is generating unnecessary pollution, waste of money and resources. This is according to Sebastian Stefan, founder and CEO of LoadMe, an online marketplace that provides a freight and truck matching service through its network.

Using IoT technology combined with GPS tracking and smartphone apps, LoadMe is bringing the car-sharing trend to the logistics industry, by providing realtime

46

information about loads and trucks available in the market.

“A LoadMe-like solution is more efficient for the truck owner and the environment,” says Stefan. “An idle truck loses US$70 per day with all its fixed costs. A moving truck makes US$90 per day. By speeding up the process of acquiring loads, LoadMe can increase that for a truck to $160 for each extra working day.”

Also, because LoadMe works on the closest location scenario, it ensures that fewer trucks are on the roads with empty loads for fewer hours.

Also, by reducing the “backhauling empty” phenomena, Stefan says that

LoadMe could reduce the heavy traffic by 10% in the UAE and CO2 emissions by a staggering figure -- 8 million tons less CO2 emissions per year in GCC. “And all this is done just with the help of technology that connects people,” he says.

LoadMe has become the official transport supplier for some of the largest companies like Procter&Gamble and Unilever.

Following similar jobs in Europe, Stefan started LoadMe after a stint in the regional logistics industry. From the beginning, he says, he saw the challenge with the local logistics industry and its very dysfunctional ways of working.

Trucking and transporting are a

notoriously difficult business outside of Europe and the US. For one, there are a few hundred fleet owners ranging in size.

On top of that, unless you are working with an agent who is on top of things, getting the right kind of truck for your load can be really tough.

“For the load owner in the region, there is no way to see a transporter based on their fleet type…whether the transporter has reefers or semi-trailers or flat beds.

At best, they can search the yellow pages.

And call each and every transporter. This is cumbersome, and it could take up to three days to book a load,” says Stefan.

With LoadMe, Stefan claims, that the entire process can be brought down to

minutes. By logging on to the LoadMe website or app, a load owner can see and instantly choose a transporter and a truck in a location closest to him.

“If your load is in Abu Dhabi, and the trucker you use is in Sharjah, he is going to drive more than 200 kilometers to you.

Instead, with LoadMe, you are more than likely to find a trucker closer to you, and that is going to keep that Sharjah truck off the roads for a significant period. That is good for the environment,” Stefan stresses.

Stefan launched LoadMe along with CTO Sebastian Morar, and marketing manager Claudia Pacurar in 2014 with a period of incubation at Dubai-based DP World’s

TURN8 accelerator.

“This is a double-sided marketplace.

It has to work for both. For freight owners, it takes out all the hassles. For transporters, it means fewer empty trucks, and more leads,” he says. “My audience may not be the most tech-savvy, but once they use it, they never go back to the traditional way.”

LoadMe is an award winning company which has accumulated a slew of accolades including, among others, Best Innovation in Sustainability from the UAE Ministry of Development during the SME Summit in 2015, as well as the Smart Initiative Award from Gulf Traffic Conference in 2016.

47

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

Women at the Wheel

A Case for Used Cars

shutterstock.com/zhu difeng

shutterstock.com

CASE STUDY

The UAE’s used car market has grown. We take an in depth look at how the country’s consumers approach buying and selling cars.

On another note, we see that women are more and more confident of selling and buying their cars on their own, rather than leaving it up to male family members or friends. We believe that SellAnyCar. com has been a major driver of this development as it has removed the used car transaction hassles and introduced a convenient, fast and fair way of selling and buying cars in 17 malls throughout the country. The percentage of women selling their cars on their own has grown by close to 50% since 2014, while it is still a male-dominated segment (83%).

Another interesting finding is that females own slightly younger cars and are selling them faster. While the average age of a car in the UAE is 6.86 years, males drive cars 6.92 years old and females 6.57 years old on average.

Reasons for Selling Cars Reasons for selling a car

Saygin Yalcin

F

Founder & CEO, SellAnyCar.com

ive years ago, I was trying to sell my car in Dubai and realised how difficult, lengthy and risky it was. I was not an automotive expert, did not know much more than the make, model and year of my car, let alone anything about the required legal second hand car selling process. 3 months later, I founded SellAnyCar.com, the Middle East’s first car buying service, which guarantees to purchase any car within 30 minutes.

Today, we have served over 20% of the entire UAE’s population and have become the largest used car buyer in the 48

region. During the World Government Summit, HH Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed, Minister of Interior of the UAE, presented SellAnyCar.com as an inspiring story for the country, in the presence of world leaders, incl. HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

With such a large part of the population registered with us, we have been able to get a good overview of the market and its trends.

While we all see the used car market growing compared to the stagnating and even shrinking new car market, we are not surprised about this development, as this is a sign of any developing automotive market. Within the next decade, the used

car market will be 3 times bigger than the new car market.

Why are people selling their cars?

In 2018, close to 15% of consumers sold their cars for financial reasons. A number, which grew by 63% compared to 2016.

The number of people, who were planning to purchase another car afterwards declined by 18%, while the people mentioning leaving the country as a reason increased by 25% in the same period. We see that there have been less transactions in the car market overall. We also believe that during the “good” times people had more cars than necessary and are disposing of them currently – a number which has grown by 16% since 2016.

2017

2018

Total

Buying a new one

54.5%

46.7%

44.2%

49.9%

Do not want a car

2.2%

0.7%

0.0%

1.3%

Financial reasons

9.3%

13.4%

14.7%

11.7%

Moving

17.8%

19.9%

22.2%

19.3%

Having too many cars

15.8%

19.0%

18.3%

17.4%

Inherited

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

0.1%

Unwanted gift

0.4%

0.3%

0.6%

0.4%

Gender 2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Female 11.71%

14.17%

16.99%

17.02%

17.45%

Male 88.29%

85.83%

83.01%

82.98%

82.55%

2015

2016

2017

2018

Female 5.97

6.11

6.03

6.37

6.57

Male 7.40

6.40

6.52

6.63

6.92

Grand Total 7.23

6.36

6.43

6.58

6.86

Average Car Age (Years)

New Rules for Specs The UAE government has implemented stricter rules on imported cars and we can only support that decision. If you compare cars by specs, you will see that over 30% of cars with US/Canada specs in the UAE have had a chassis problem, while cars with GCC specs have significantly less chassis problems with only 3.6%.

It clearly underlines bad practice of importers trying to hide major problems of US imported cars. This number has declined significantly since the UAE has implemented a thorough check at the borders beginning of 2016. The number has dropped by 34% within 2 years.

2016

2014

Specs

2015

2016

2017

European

7.03%

9.84%

4.55%

GCC

9.17%

5.57%

3.54%

Japan

20.31%

10.26%

6.03%

Other

13.47%

12.15%

6.25%

US/Canada

46.93%

37.32%

30.80%

Chassis Issues Given the above changes and learnings, GCC spec cars now make up over 91% of all cars in the UAE, grown by 22% since 2014.

Source: SellAnyCar.com

49

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

INNOVATION

emission. Acoustic emission is a very limiting factor in large aircrafts landing and flying overhead. People will obviously want to avoid these very noisy areas and so airports will always have to be built further away.

Fuel-efficient Falcons

S

cientists have developed several concepts following research into how the peregrine falcon – the world’s fastest bird. One of these scientists is Professor Christoph Bruecker from City University of London’s Aeronautical Engineering department. In particular, Bruecker is fascinated by how a falcon is able to stay in control and airborne at speeds of up to 200 mph (320 kph), even in high winds. The Professor speaks to The Sustainabilist about his work and how this kind of research will affect the transport industry.

shutterstock.com

The UAE’s national bird, the falcon, is inspiring new technologies for aircraft that could contribute to their safety in the air, aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.

50

What does “Sustainable Transport” mean to you?

To me, sustainability in transport simply means to reduce drag.

Everything in transportation, whether it’s on land, air or sea, has to do with aerodynamic drag, also known as hydrodynamic drag. In nature we know that [animals] evolve to reduce drag as much as possible to save energy, and we can learn a lot from the animal world. So, as engineers, we think and try to understand what it means to reduce friction drag. For example friction drag (that means flow over the body) always causes loss of energy and therefore is involved in higher fuel consumption. We can save a lot of energy if we work on this reduction of drag and improving performance, as we say.

How can this type of research be applied in the sector today?

We try to extrapolate our understanding to applications in aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, underwater vehicles, cars etc.

We want to understand how drag is generated, how to reduce it, and also, how it affects the acoustic noise emission for example.

The same device that improves, lifts or reduces the physical drag could in theory also have a beneficial effect in aeroacoustics

M-type I

What’s so fascinating about the Peregrine Falcon?

If you consider bioinspired or natureinspired design, why would we go for any other species if we know that the falcon is the fastest animal in the world? It is absolutely clear that there is an adaptation in its design, in its bone structures to facilitate aerobatics at these high speeds.

This is exactly what we are interested to understand; what makes these superfast animals different from all others. If you had to hold a chicken out the window of a car travelling at 200 mph you’d see what happens to its feathers. It wouldn’t work.

But, the falcon going these at these high speeds in free flight, it doesn’t have any problems.

So, in terms of its design, how does it work? Firstly, if you are going at these high speeds you need to have a very good vision system, you have to have very good flow sensing devices on your body to detect if you get into critical flow situations. You have to have a very specific bone structure -- a light weight bone structure -- which can survive up to 10 to 18 g-forces. So does this all come together for this bird?

We discovered that the way the falcon cups its wings towards its body is very different from how other species do it.

The falcon’s technique causes the flow between the body and the inner part of the wing to accelerate, and this means that the bird is able to keep its speed. The body drag is reduced by this acceleration effect.

To make it easier to understand, you could

II Teardrop

III IV Fig. 1 Montage of the flight path of a peregrine falcon in stoop with

thecorresponding live images while in the Teardrop-shape and the M-shape

compare it to the ‘Venturi effect’ (which is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe.)

How can manufacturers translate this type of research into their designs, and will we see more engineers turning to nature for inspiration?

You could, for example imagine using the downward cupped wing of the Falcon in the design of a ship to reduce body drag. But, we cannot simply copy the principles of nature and paste that towards engineering so easily. Sometimes it’s not at all possible because of scaling issues etc.. So what is important is to take these ideas and understand the physics behind them, and then extrapolating that into trying and testing.

How do you see the future of transport, 10, 20, 30 years from now, and how do you see engineering and innovation

evolving in terms of catering to an everincreasing demand?

Elon Musk was absolutely right with his idea to go underground. To go into a vacuum chamber where drag is reduced significantly. I believe that this is definitely one way to cope with the future. As I’ve said before, reducing body drag is a very important part in sustainability. Another factor is how we will design aircrafts - to reduce friction drag and to be able to get to higher altitudes. This will allow us to cope with higher demand in flights.

On the other hand, I see lots of potential to reduce traffic just by new communication systems. By online conferences, by networking. The developments in digital information will also be a way to overcome these problems of traffic. It’s not necessary anymore to go to your work, to your work office, while you can do the same stuff at home. So I foresee a counterbalance of things.

51

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT PALM JUMEIRAH

RESEARCH

Dubai EV Charging Stations Map

85

77 76 93

DEWA CHARGING STATION

38

41

33

72 53

13 7

11 10

5 DEWA & TESLA CHARGING STATION

4

2 26

3 6 9

14

28 31

17 44

51

8

80

84

64 81

23

63

79

89

96

71

60

73 90

52

50 66

49

61

68

69

74

91

34

Al Barsha Police Station

3

Kempinski Residences & Hotel Apartments

55

Business Central Tower

4

Anantara the Palm

56

Al Qudra Cycle Track

5

Sofitel the Palm

6

Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah

58

H. H. the Ruler's Court

59

Emirates Speciality Hospital, Dubai Health Care City

7

Jumeirah Al Naseem

60

Dubai Festival City Mall

8

Jumeirah Beach Hotel

61

Global Village (DEWA)

9

Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach

62

Al Maha A Luxury Collection Desert Resort, Al Ain Road

OLD DUBAI

10

Jumeirah Mina A'salam

63

Grand Hyatt Dubai, Sheikh Rashid Road

11

Jumeirah Al Qasr

64

Le Meridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre

12

Burj Al Arab

65

DEWA - Head Office Customer Happiness Centre

13

ENOC - Umm Suqeim Super charger

66

DEWA - Al Qouz Sustainable building Customer Happiness Centre

14

The Beach Mall

67

DEWA - Al Hudaiba Customer Happiness Centre

15

Madinat Jumeirah

68

DEWA - Warsan Building

16

Dubai Holding HQ

69

DEWA - Ruwayyah

17

One & Only Royal Mirage Hotel

70

DEWA - Burj Nahar Customer Happiness Centre

71

DEWA - Umm Ramoul Customer Happiness Centre

18

Fairmont

72

DEWA - Al Wasel Customer Happiness Centre

19

Shangri-la Hotel

73

Government Workshop – Ruwaiyah

20

Four Seasons Hotel Dubai

74

Dubai Municipality – Nad Al Sheba Park

21

Jebel Ali Supercharger

75

Old Subkhah 01 & New Subkhah

22

Mövenpick Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel

76

Ghubaibah

23

Emirates Towers

77

Naif Parking

24

Radisson Blu Hotel

105

43

56

100

62

Al Riqqa Car Park Dubai Municipality - Al Twar Centre

25

Crowne Plaza

80

Dubai Municipality - Manara Centre

Dukes Dubai

81

Dubai Municipality- Umm Ramool

27

Dubai Municipality

82

Dubai Safari

28

106

78 79

26

DUBAI MARINA

99

The Westin Mina Seyahi

83

Rashid Hospital

84

Latifa Hospital

29

Radisson Blu Residence

85

Al Mamzar Health Centre

30

The Address

86

Dubai Hospital

31

Intercontinental

87

Zabeel Health Centre

32

Marina Mall

88

Al Maktoum International Airport

DOWNTOWN DUBAI

89

Dubai Airport - Terminal 2 & 1

33

Prime Minister Office – Emirates Towers

90

Warqa 4 Supercharger

34

The Ritz-Carlton, DIFC

91

Wadi Al Safa

35

Dubai Mall

92

Higher Colleges of Technology - Dubai Men’s College Etihad Museum

36

Emirates Towers Hotel

93

37

Rove Hotel

94

Dubai Taxi Corporation- Head Quarter

38

Armani Hotel

95

Zabeel Supercharger (DEWA)

40

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard- P2 &P3

96

Dubai World Trade Centre (DEWA)

41

La Ville Hotel & Suites, City Walk

97

Dubai Police - General Head Quarters (DEWA)

42

Dubai Petroleum Head Office

98

Hilton Garden Inn Hotel (DEWA)

NEW DUBAI

21 101

46

52

The Oberoi, Business Bay

54

48

103 22

53

Atlantis the Palm

DEIRA DUBAI

30

104

Fairmont the Palm

2

SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD

82

55

29 32

16

35

37

83

47

27

1

45

15

12

40

59 65

34

97 36

19

95

87

70

94

24 42

67 20

25

18

TESLA CHARGING STATION

58

Dubai Design District

1

JUMEIRAH

92

52

88

JEBEL ALI

43

Element Me'aisem, Dubai Production City

99

Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority

44

Media One Hotel, Dubai Media City

100

ENOC - Jebel Ali

45

Ritz-Carlton, Jumeirah Beach Residence

101

Dubai Investment Park Supercharger

46

Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, Al Qudra Road

102

Dubai South HQ

47

Mall of the Emirates, Al Barsha

103

Jebel Ali Customer Happiness Centre

48

The Address Montgomerie Dubai, Emirates Hills

104

Emirates Global Aluminum

49

Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz

105. THE SUSTAINABLE CITY (TESLA, DEWA)

50

The Meydan Hotel, Meydan Racecourse

106. HATTA SUPERCHARGER (TESLA, DEWA)

51

Dubai Internet City Supercharger

53

rd | July 2018 October 2017 Issue 01Issue | 2309

The Sustainabilist ||SUSTAINABLE. TRANSPORT BUSINESS. DEVELOPMENT

shutterstock.com

Musad Afzal, External Relations Officer, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

FEATURE

We’re EV Ready

Taking a look at how Dubai is readily revving up for an electric car transformation.

Musad Afzal External Relations Officer, Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence

T

he year is 2030. Sheikh Zayed Road is at its usual buzz with a stream of gleaming vehicles running through the center of a growing cosmopolitan.

Something is different, though.

54

Dubai’s roads are slightly quieter; the air independent from smoke, and a forest of electric charging stations canopies the city. Electric vehicles are DXB’s transport of choice. In the year 2015, this seemed a distant thought in a society where vehicle size, speed, and luxury are considered a staple.

However, with DEWA, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the RTA, and Dubai Municipality at the helm, Dubai’s electric vehicle transition is not a farfetched fantasy but a calculated reality. In a city that continues to better itself daily, electric vehicles have found the ideal regional incubator.

A study conducted by the International Energy Agency (IEA) informs that electric vehicle adoption is on the rise internationally. With the China and US at the forefront; Norway, the UK, Sweden, France, and the Netherlands are following suit. Out of these countries, Norway boasts the highest electric vehicle market

share at 29% whereas China’s volumes lead the way with 40% of the international market. Globally, electric vehicle stock has gone from less than 0.5 million in 2010 to over 2 million in 2016. The IEA predicts that this number will grow from 3 million to 125 million across the next 12 years.

Region’s that are quickly adopting electric vehicles share characteristics.

The cities and their modern expansions are planned and not developed on an ad-hoc basis, their governments are investing in embedding technology within communities, and distances within cities are relatively short.

Precisely why Dubai is the next stop for large-scale electric vehicle adoption.

In terms of legislation and infrastructure, Dubai is well on its way. The Dubai Green Mobility Strategy 2021 mandates up to 40% of the city’s vehicles to be electric or hybrids by 2030. The public sector is adapting to this by making 10% of their annual vehicle purchases hybrids or electric. The new electric vehicle incentives from DEWA include free charging, exemption from Salik tag costs, free registration, and exclusive parking spots – reducing running costs and making electric vehicles the option of choice.

With the operation costs of electric vehicles in Dubai being reduced significantly through DEWA’s incentives, drivers’ other concerns have been put to rest too. The city now has more than 150 charging points with plans already in place to increase this number. Chargers for residences are now also being pushed through DEWA and Safaqat.ae.

What about speed, range, and variety?

Electric cars are faster. The top two 0-60 times belong to Porsche 918 Spyder and the Tesla Model S P100D, at 2.2 seconds and 2.28 seconds respectively. Both cars are electric vehicles. Range anxiety? With reducing battery costs and more efficient batteries, the average electric vehicle now does more than 330 kilometers per charge. Dubai’s electric car’s are not limited too Renault or Tesla. By 2020, Ford is releasing 13 new electric models, 66% of Honda’s manufacturing will be of

electric models by 2030, and Mercedes have planned to increase their existing portfolio of electric vehicles.

Dubai has the right attitude, modern infrastructure, and the ideal resident to be the electric vehicle capital of the region.

EVs are coming home.

“

Globally, electric vehicle stock has gone from less than 0.5 million in 2010 to over 2 million in 2016. The IEA predicts that this number will grow from 3 million to 125 million across the next 12 years.

“

Dubai’s government has a consistent history of involving modern technology in the city’s infrastructure and the trend seems to continue, the current expansions done in the city are planned with renewable energy solutions in mind, and a long drive in Dubai is around 70 kilometers.

55

Issue 09 | July 2018

PERSON

Janardan Dalmia CEO of Trukkin

First solar-powered petrol station in the UAE

T

rukkin, the B2B technologistics platform that is heralding a new future in the Middle East logistics and transport industry, has announced that it will be receiving an undisclosed amount of funding led by Saudi Arabia’s Batic Investment and Logistics Co for a pre-series round. Trukkin was launched in 2017, and in a short period of time, has matched industry expectations with significant commercial transport capabilities, shipping over 5,000 heavy cargo truck movement across GCC. Trukkin is committed to making pivotal investments in technology and operations to make the Middle East logistics and transport space more efficient and transparent, and to optimize commercial transport in the region. The company’s goals have received positive backing, support and investments from key captains of the industry, and its team, led by CEO

Janardan Dalmia, is working closely with all backers and mentors to make Trukkin the de facto enabler of the industry.

“Support from marquee institutions like Batic is a testament to the fact that we are on the right track. The investment will allow us to further scale our operations and continue the growth of the company,” said CEO Janardan Dalmia of Trukkin.

“Logistics is at the center of Vision 2030 as a way to cement the region’s position at the crossroads of important international trade routes, between Asia, Europe and Africa and build a unique regional logistics hub. We have been closely monitoring the traction of the business for the past few months and are very excited about the potential opportunity Trukkin presents in this field. We have tremendous faith in the execution capabilities of its team and are very happy to join hands with them,” said Omar Al Mohammady, CEO of Batic.

The Middle East region carries huge potential in techno-logistics, but is still tied up with traditional operating processes. The market is fragmented, and is hampered by several inefficiencies.

Trukkin has thus been founded to improve the entire operational framework of commercial logistics used by shippers, fleet owners and truck drivers and all stakeholders, who stand to benefit from increased efficiencies. Trukkin’s goal is to up the level of service and create industry benchmarks.

Trukkin is an aggregator, full-scale commercial and land transport service provider, offering trucks at the most competitive prices along with technology enhancements such as shipment tracking, along with optimal utilization and effective fleet management. Trukkin has opened up a new way to unlock new suppliers and lower transport overheads.

57

Issue 09 | July 2018

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

PROJECT

PRODUCT

DP World’s Cargospeed

Electric Motorbikes A look at the next innovative and cost effective solution.

S DP World accelerates into the future with Hyperloop.

G

lobal trade enabler DP World and Virgin Hyperloop One have introduced DP World Cargospeed, an international brand for hyperloop-enabled cargo systems to support the fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletized cargo.

Designed to provide exceptional service for high-priority, on-demand goods, DP World Cargospeed systems will deliver freight at the speed of flight and closer to the cost of trucking.

DP World, the largest investor in Virgin Hyperloop One, and the USbased company introduced their vision for the future of on-demand freight transportation enabled by DP World Cargospeed at an event today at the historic vessel Queen Elizabeth 2 hosted by DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem and Virgin Group Founder and Virgin Hyperloop One Chairman Sir Richard

58

Branson, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed.

olva Technologies is a tech startup offering environmentallyfriendly fully electric motorbikes optimized for functionality and sustainability. Solva aspires to change the sustainability scheme on a global scale.

Through their offerings, they tackle the most pressing issues in the logistics sector using cutting-edge solutions.

Combined with their data offering, Solva’s value added to customers expands beyond financial savings, into

full automation and truly sustainable solutions through logistic optimization, adding to their core values and helping their business transform into a green offering. Solva is a team of trained scientists, engineers and strategists ensuring the mission and vision of Solva expanding beyond the classic business cycle into a community based movement for change is achieved. They were recently awarded a US$50,000 Accelerator Program Grant by Sheraa.

Mohammed Al Abd, COO, Solva Technologies

Traveling at top speeds of 1000 km/h DP World Cargospeed systems, enabled

by Virgin Hyperloop One technology, will transport high-priority, timesensitive goods including fresh food, medical supplies, electronics, and more.

It will expand freight transportation capacity by connecting with existing modes of road, rail, port and air transport.

The Virgin Hyperloop One system underpinning DP World Cargospeed is unique in that it doesn’t need to be passenger-only or cargo-only. Rather, it is a mixed-use system that fully utilizes system capacity and maximizes economic and social benefits. Systems are 100% electric and can be powered by renewable energy, creating a more sustainable solution for cargo transport.

59

The Sustainabilist | TRANSPORT

INDEX

Impact of EVs on the Electric Grid & Oil Demand Global power demand for EVs 1.2%

400 ROW

Total EV power demand ( TWh)

350

1.0%

Other Asia China Europe US EV % of total overall power demand

300 250 200 150

0.8% 0.6 % 0.4%

100 0.2%

50 2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

0.0 %

Global oil demand displaced by EVs 2.0 1.8

million b/d

1.6

Source: Wood Mackenzie

60

1.4 1.2 1.0

10%

ROW

9%

Other Asia China Europe US % gasoline demand displaced

8% 7%

0.6

3%

0.4

2%

0.2

1%

0.0

0 %h

2025

Let your green credentials be the tool to your optimization.

5% 4%

2020

Get your green on.

6%

0.8

2015

YOUR SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC ENABLER

2030

2035

SCAN HERE to check out our latest projects

P +971 4 322 9853| F +971 4 3854295, PO Box 333992, Dubai | Email yalla@dcce.ae

www.dcce.ae #decarbonize #greeneconomy